Workers in the U.S. Virgin Islands had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.82 in May 2024, compared to the United States average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that higher paying major occupational groups included legal ($46.21), management ($44.79), and computer and mathematical ($41.08). Lower paying occupations included building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.51) and sales and related ($17.88). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the U.S. Virgin Islands included office and administrative support (13.7 percent), food preparation and serving related (12.6 percent), and sales and related (9.5 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included architecture and engineering (0.4 percent); legal (0.7 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.8 percent).

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. The U.S. Virgin Islands had 4,660 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 13.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 11.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.90, compared to the national wage of $24.12.

  

View Chart Data

 Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying office and administrative support occupations in the U.S. Virgin Islands, May 2024

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$24.82
Office and administrative support occupations	20.90
Postal service clerks	30.54
Postal service mail carriers	27.98
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	27.20
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	27.10
Office and administrative support workers, all other	26.91

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (660), general office clerks (580), and first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers (560). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were postal service clerks ($30.54) and postal service mail carriers ($27.98). (See chart1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks ($14.23) and tellers ($15.42). (Detailed data for the office and administrative support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/7800000.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks were employed at 7.96 times the national rate in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks, at 3.91 times the U.S. average. Medical secretaries and administrative assistants had a location quotient of 1.00 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Labor.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the U.S. Virgin Islands included 674 establishments with a response rate of 89 percent.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.